Do girls need "special" Legos?

[PeterPan09]

Just got an email about a new product line Lego is introducing for the "other 50% of the population." The sets are a cafe, a pool to lounge by, a club to sing in and of course...shopping.

Somehow this just feels wrong to me. I remember having Legos as a kid and they were just Legos. There was no gender specific direction. By the time my niece came along, there were much better sets, but still gender less. She built castles and houses and a lot of Harry Potter sets. Sure, some of her play may have been different from the boys, but she didn't need "special" sets to do it.

I would rather see Lego stay gender neutral and let kids use their imaginations the way they want to and not see girls and boys guided into sets that are "right" for them.

 

[Plantlady]

In the late 70's early 80's I had girl legos. I had a classroom, with a teacher and students.. a blackboard that flipped around into a map. I also had a kitchen. I remember the stove and sink and fridge. Adorable.

I also played with the castle set, and made a lot of fire trucks. But, the girly legos were available then as well.

 

[mrssmee]

Our local Lego store has very few sets that I would consider gender neutral...the majority are definitely marketed towards boys. I'm not sure how making sets marketed towards girls is any different than making sets that are marketed towards boys. My daughter will be thrilled. She loves legos and does not "need" girly sets, but she likes them and will probably continue to choose them over the other sets.

 

[stargazer2892]

Nope! As a girl who played with Legos, it wasn't something that ever entered my mind. I have always thought they where pretty gender neutral, of course I just played with the old fashioned brick Legos not the fancy sets they have out now. I was also the girl who played with army men, sticks, and the rest of the boys on the block. However I did play with barbies, and my room was an awful shade of pink If we ever have a girl unless she REALLY REALLY wants the pink ones then she will be playing with her brothers "boy" Legos.

 

[Goofyluver]

These have been around for a long time.

My niece had pastel legos and princess legos.

 

[robinb]

I don't think that legos have been gender neutral for a long time. MOST of them are very masculine.

 

[diznygirl]

Why not? Girls who are girly-girls and want to play with Legos should have something cute to play with. When the Lego Store open I bought a ton of pink bricks!!

 

[PlainJane]

Lego, except for their basic sets, hasn't been "gender neutral" in a long time. What is "gender neutral" about DC Comics (male super hero sets btw), Ninjas, Prince of Persia, and Star Wars? Those were just a couple of the sets I saw when I checked out Lego's website. While girls can like those things, it's definitely more geared to boys.

I loved Legos as a kid, and I sure as heck wouldn't have minded if they were pink.

If you don't like it, let Lego's know with your wallet.

 

[design_mom]

My DD (age 7) *loves* Legos. For Christmas, she received (from various people) -- the Police Command truck, a police K9 unit set, a bus station/bikeshop/pizza shop set, and a space shuttle. She loves them all.

She does not "need" girly legos. However, we saw the Friends series house on display at Target and she liked it a lot. Not because it was girly, but because it was a cool set. (I do agree that they could have made it just as fun, and more gender neutral, if they'd made the roof green, or grey, or something other than purple.) The only thing I don't like about the new sets is that they've changed the people. The "minifigs" are classic.

 

[Happy Mom2]

Our local Lego store has very few sets that I would consider gender neutral...the majority are definitely marketed towards boys. I'm not sure how making sets marketed towards girls is any different than making sets that are marketed towards boys. My daughter will be thrilled. She loves legos and does not "need" girly sets, but she likes them and will probably continue to choose them over the other sets.

I totally agree! DD can put together DS sets in no time with very little instruction, but she likes the girly sets more. I think it's natural. I actually wrote to Lego and asked about more sets geared to girls. I'm thrilled and so will DD!

Off to the Lego site now!

 

[Ceila]

duplicate

 

[Ceila]

What I don't like about Legos now is that they are sold almost entirely in kits with directions. When I was a kid in the 70's and 80's, the sets may have had a few ideas for buildings and such, but they weren't so specific as they are now. Now you can buy a Staw Wars kit, follow the directions, and voila, you have a SW figure. Where is the imagination in that???

I think the basic sets from the past were much more gender-neutral because they really didn't push you to make any one specific thing. Boy or girl, you came up with an idea and you built it. Now, the kits take imagination out of the equation and, yes, they do tend to be more boy oriented.

What I honestly wish they would do is drop the kits entirely and start selling basic blocks in a wider variety of colors (including pink and purple). Of course, they won't because the kits are popular even though they suck so much creativity out of playtime.

 

[iheartdisney]

NO!!
My DD asked for 2 creator sets for Christmas, and a truck, and put them together herself. I think she likes building the sets more than DS! I don't think it dawned on her that the Log cabin should be pink.
What is overtly masculine about a lighthouse? a log cabin? Pirates of the Carribean?
I dislike the girly figures. Why do legos need ****ies?

By releasing "girl" Legos now, they are now condemning girls who prefer to play with the regular Lego sets. Talk all the equality talk you want, but in the year 2012 a major corporation believes that all our girls should be interested in are bakeries and pet grooming we still have a ways to go.

 

[diznygirl]

NO!!
My DD asked for 2 creator sets for Christmas, and a truck, and put them together herself. I think she likes building the sets more than DS! I don't think it dawned on her that the Log cabin should be pink.
What is overtly masculine about a lighthouse? a log cabin? Pirates of the Carribean?
I dislike the girly figures. Why do legos need ****ies?

By releasing "girl" Legos now, they are now condemning girls who prefer to play with the regular Lego sets. Talk all the equality talk you want, but in the year 2012 a major corporation believes that all our girls should be interested in are bakeries and pet grooming we still have a ways to go.

So what do we do with the girls who ARE interested in bakeries and pet grooming and like the color pink? They can't play with Legos?

I see there is a double-standard here.

 

[SandrA9810]

The one and only set I got, was a round canister of Legos that were in pastels, pink, blue, purple, and white.

I never had any of the sets, figures, or buildings. Just the blocks.

 

[pacrosby]

Obviously they are simply trying to widen their appeal. Some girls are NOT into Star Wars and Pirates of the Carribbean etc. so should they just write them off? Of course not.....they are doing what any smart company does. It's not as if they are abandoning the other sets. Girls who like to play with police cars and ninjas will continue to do so and those who don't? Well now they will have an alternative.

Let's face it, girls do tend to be wired differently. There's nothing wrong with embracing it

 

[Planogirl]

I don't consider castles and Star Wars and Pirates and so on masculine but then I was never interested in much girly stuff. Yet I don't see any harm in these sets. Girly girls who like this stuff can choose these while others can continue to play with the other stuff.

Lego isn't interested in labeling anyone. They just want to sell Legos.

 

[HelenePA]

I loved legos as a kid but I would have loved them even more if they came in pink and purple! I was a very girly girl!

 

[roxysmum123]

The title of this thread alone made me think of this video. Came out around Christmas I think. A little girl named Riley ranting about boy toys vs girl toys and how some boys like princesses and some girls like superhero's because "the companies try to trick the girls into buying the pink stuff". Makes me grin every time I see it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CU040Hqbas

 

[Diznygrl]

What I don't like about Legos now is that they are sold almost entirely in kits with directions. When I was a kid in the 70's and 80's, the sets may have had a few ideas for buildings and such, but they weren't so specific as they are now. Now you can buy a Staw Wars kit, follow the directions, and voila, you have a SW figure. Where is the imagination in that???